Two months ago, we shared that Apple started rolling out support for their Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter that allowed all new owners of the MacBook Pro with retina display to have access to a wired Internet connection. Today, Apple is starting to roll out their Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter via their online store, which like many of Apple's adapters, carries a $29.00 price tag.

Since the new MacBook Pro with retina display is so thin, Apple decided to nix the larger FireWire port in place of the much smaller Thunderbolt port, which is such a versatile I/O system that it really made no sense to have the FireWire connector port on the side of the computer and limiting the thinness of the computer.

Today’s Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter allows users to connect third party peripherals, such as video camcorders, to their MacBook Pro with retina display computer through the Thunderbolt port rather than the nonexistent FireWire port. Those that have older MacBook Pro models such as the 2011 model, which has both the Thunderbolt and FireWire port, can use the adapter to enjoy dual-FireWire ports.

The part was live on Apple’s Web site earlier at this link, however it appears to be unavailable again. If the part follows the same patterns as the disappearing act that plagued the online customization menu of Apple’s lower-end MacBook Pro with retina display today, then we should expect to see the adapter become live on the site again sometime later in the day.

I had no issue with "holding the iPhone 4 wrong," nor did many of my relatives and friends. His response was to a blown-out-of-proportion p.r. issue. If you notice, less than (much less than) one percent of iPhone 4 purchasers ever returned their phones.

As to the rest, I'm no fan boy- I railed against 10.6 and its destruction of many of my firewire peripherals' functionality. But the above story seems reasonable, given the thinness of the machine. Something had to give, and I guess if you want a really thin machine, you can pony up thirty bucks for an adapter.

I had no issue with "holding the iPhone 4 wrong," nor did many of my relatives and friends. His response was to a blown-out-of-proportion p.r. issue. If you notice, less than (much less than) one percent of iPhone 4 purchasers ever returned their phones.

I could replicate the issue on demand to anyone. I was on 5.1.1 and this was in June (I have a 4S now). I went in to apple and told the nice lady I was experiencing the death grip and would like some help. She literally told me "Oh no you are not experiencing the death grip". I may be 17, but I'm top 5% of my class. She was in her late 30s-40s, and working in retail? First time any store employee ever offended me. Theres no need to treat me like a 4 year old. She pointed me back to the genius bar and they simply told me I was out of warranty (after checking the headphone jack and dock connector lol). So I filed in the class-action suit. If they don't want to give me a bumper that costs $0.99 to make, I'll take the $15 from the lawsuit.

You filed a class action suit? How? Who filed it for you, as you are under 18? Also, you filed a court case (assuming you did) over a cheap bumper? Did you consider simply... holding the phone in a slightly different manner? A friend of mine has a BlackBerry, and he showed me how changing how he held it caused the signal bars to fluctuate. I have never had an issue with this, nor have the people I know who have i4's (10-20 of them). Could it happen? Sure. But, if I did have this problem, I would see if holding the phone slightly differently would help. Rather than file a class action suit (which has already been filed, basically failed, and the free bumper program is over). Also, you don't say how old your i4 is, but Apple did change antennae placement to a degree with later runs. If you have the early version (I do), why didn't you jump on the suit already in progress back then? If a later version, there shouldn't be a problem. Unless you are purposely holding the phone in a way to accentuate the loss of signal, which is possible with most smart phones.

As to a rude employee, I'm sorry if that was the case. I've never had a bad experience in an Apple Store (in terms or rudeness).